"At least they will if the FTC ultimately applies the same rules to ISPs as they currently do to run-of-the-mill websites," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Fair Competition

The agencies' new stance met with enthusiasm from many who do business online.

"Staying the data security provision will allow providers to avoid spending a potentially significant sum to retrain thousands of employees across the industry and alter their internal procedures in response to a regulation that might not even be on the books in a few months," said Ryan Radia, regulatory counsel at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

"Subscribers, in turn, will benefit from their provider investing more in services that actually matter to consumers, instead of complying with an unnecessary and legally dubious regulation," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Complying with last fall's mandate could have caused irreparable injury to businesses and consumers, Radia maintained.

Privacy Concerns

Central to the rules is the issue of consumer privacy, a concern that is only likely to grow.

"It's fine to say that everyone should play by the same rules, but that's only a valid argument if everyone is playing the same game," said Tellus' Blum.

"There's a big difference between your ISP and, say, Facebook, which only has the information you voluntarily give it," he pointed out.

Users are the ones who choose to go to Facebook, pick a user name and password, and upload information about themselves, he suggested, "but your ISP can see all that too -- and you should be able to decide whether or not your ISP can use that information."

Regardless of how companies acquire data, "Americans should have their privacy protected equally," argued Recon Analytics' Entner, and there should be no expectation that privacy will be "protected differently by ISPs and edge providers."

Peter Suciu has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2012. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile phones, displays, streaming media, pay TV and autonomous vehicles. He has written and edited for numerous publications and websites, including Newsweek, Wired and FoxNews.com.
Email Peter.